Old Craftsman Hose Clamp Pliers.. Never worked right.. Backwards?

[Big Bad Dad]

Heres a question for those that are familiar with old Craftsman tools. These pliers were in the tool set my Dad gave me when I was 14 years old, and just starting to work on cars. They appear to be for removing and installing the old spring type hose clamps. I have been using them for over 40 years now, and they have never really worked very well. They always seem to be notched the wrong way for the spring type clamps. They tend to twist sideways and come off of the clamps. Today, I was trying to install an old clamp, and the darn things spit the clamp out and about broke my finger! I don't know how old the pliers really are. My Dad started wrenching in the late 40's, and spent part of the Korean War era in the Army motor pool. Now most of my stuff has been 60's era Mopar muscle type cars, and Dad used to restore Model T Fords. Maybe the pliers were made for old Fords or Jeeps?? I don't know. Perhaps they were designed for something else? The lettering below the Craftsman logo is: wf*45391*usa
I attached 3 pictures for reference.... Anybody got an idea of what they may have been originally intended for?

 

[bestatv]

Flip the pliers over to match the spring offset.You're welcome.

 

[Big Bad Dad]

Duh...no that dont work. You're welcome. Wow, I would have never tried that in 40 years..........

 

[Zeke]

Wow. Sorry about the finger! Those old clamps liked to twist away from you no matter what tool you had. God forbid that you try a standard pliers. My spring clamp pliers have rotating heads but they are in line with each other. Just gives me a chance at any angle. I've had mixed results over the years. I guess some guys will dab a little valve grinding compound (something you don't see too often in the modern shop) on the jaws for grip.

Best way to use those is too grab the clamp with a rag after getting the jaws in place. When putting the clamp back on (if you must), use a little vaseline on the hose.

 

[58Yeoman]

I never had a pair myself, but I had used others' pliers. For me, I used the jagged jaw on regular pliers to remove/replace spring clamps. Worked well enough for me.

 

[404]

I keep those clamps (they ****) for decoration and use something else for the application. Unless it needs to look authentic. Is it possible to tighten the nut on the pliers a little?

 

[lakota]

Gas pliers, stout pliers designed for gripping small pipe, rods, or other round objects .

Not sure they were intended for the purpose you mention.

 

[gearhead1]

I have a pair of those, but like a big pair of channellock pliers better for those clamps.

 

[Fedwrench]

As someone else mentioned, unless you have too much side to side play in the plier halves, they're probably working as designed.

I always thought those pliers weren't as good as the old KD style with rotating jaws.

 

[RECox286]

I have no idea where mine came from, they do look as

old as sin. I've been using them for 40 of my years of

playing with appliances, cars, etc and I always use them

with some care and trepidation for their tendency to slip.

Other than using 2 hands, what you describe is what they

are designed for. Oh, mine have a chain link which must

have a purpose, I suppose, like being a safety or hold closed

feature once you have captured the clamp. I find that the

pliers do work as advertised, but buyer or in this case user

beware. Thankfully, there are a lot fewer clamps of that

design on vehicles than there used to be, so that is a plus.

Uncle Bob

 

[LS6 Tommy]

I always thought those pliers weren't as good as the old KD style with rotating jaws.

Those sound like mine...

Tommy

 

[wild cowboy]

Step 1 - replace old style hose clamps on your vehicles with current style

Step 2 - throw away those goofy pliers that you inherited that were always an ill-conceived design

Step 3 - buy the Astro Pneumatic 9409A tool shown below online for $34

 

[BFBOB]

Is it just me, or do those pliers have the offsets opposite the offset of the hose clamps pictured? If there's enough meat, take a Rotozip or Dremel with a diamond 1/8" cylindrical bit and "drill" the other half of the jaws so you have two pairs of half-holes. Then, you've got the offset in the right direction regardless. Talking about the half-holes in the ends of the jaws,, but you might be able to do it in the sides too.

 

[Big Bad Dad]

I guess what I am trying to figure out, is if there is a "left hand" and "right hand" version of these style pliers and clamps. It just seems like they would work perfect if the slots were oriented in the opposite direction. I would like to find an old Craftsman catalog and see if this style was made in two versions. Anybody got a book from the 50s or 60s that has them in it?

 

[theoldwizard1]

I have those exact same pliers ! It has been so long since have even SEEN a single round wire clamp, that I can't answer your question !

Looking at the notches, they can be used either straight on or from one side.


IIRC, I think old Mopar vehicles used that type of spring clamp more than GM or Ford.

 

[toplessHO]

those clamps are definitely in the UFO category in the garage.
funny that they made those purpose built. I made a pair many years
ago by drilling the end of a cheap set of pliers

 

[redmondjp]

Those pliers are definitely for those round spring clamps. My 1968 Plymouth had those clamps stock. I still have a pair of K-D spring clamp pliers that I haven't used in over 30 years for those type of clamps.

 

[rslaback]

For round clamps like that I always just use a vise grip. The trick is to set the vise grip (use one of the pieces) so that the tool clamps on when the clamp is all the way open. Use the vise grips to gently open the clamp allowing the two ears to slide next to each other. Clamp and remove.

 

[Milmarkee]

Heres a question for those that are familiar with old Craftsman tools. These pliers were in the tool set my Dad gave me when I was 14 years old, and just starting to work on cars. They appear to be for removing and installing the old spring type hose clamps. I have been using them for over 40 years now, and they have never really worked very well. They always seem to be notched the wrong way for the spring type clamps. They tend to twist sideways and come off of the clamps. Today, I was trying to install an old clamp, and the darn things spit the clamp out and about broke my finger! I don't know how old the pliers really are. My Dad started wrenching in the late 40's, and spent part of the Korean War era in the Army motor pool. Now most of my stuff has been 60's era Mopar muscle type cars, and Dad used to restore Model T Fords. Maybe the pliers were made for old Fords or Jeeps?? I don't know. Perhaps they were designed for something else? The lettering below the Craftsman logo is: wf*45391*usa
I attached 3 pictures for reference.... Anybody got an idea of what they may have been originally intended for?

I know this post is ancient, but I had to respond. I have two pairs of these hose clamp pliers, one from the early 70"s and a newer pair and Craftsman made the early version wrong, the cutouts are oriented correctly but slightly offset and made them completely useless and extremely frustrating to to use. I can't count the number of times I got stung by one of those spring clamps or had it shoot across the room and disappear. It wasn't until my Brother passed away a few years ago and left me some of his tools that I got the second pair with the same product number on them, but with the slots that actually line up and work wonderfully, however they don't use those type of clamps much anymore so its a day late and dollar short for me. Unless you're restoring cars to be factory correct, however there are still a few applications like washing machine hoses and such, and Yes I still keep the bad ones in my toolbox for some unknown reason, probably because I have a really hard time throwing away any tool no matter how bad it is. Haha. The sad thing is my brother would have gotten a good laugh about this, and I never had anyone to share this story with that would appreciate it, until now..

 

[theoldwizard1]

duplicate

 

[no704]

Get one of the ratchet with a cable clamp pliers.

 

[woody 73]

just for shits and giggles, be sure and see his gravestone.

Damiano Arras & Donald H. Brown Patent No. 2,677,982 Corbin Pliers.

Some days finding information is a joy and this story is right up there, but...Sometimes it can be somewhat confusing if you know what I mean. I found the patent, but it reads Not known to have been produced, that's the confusing part, because they are still produced today. Now the next part...

www.garagejournal.com

 

[jayemm]

Heres a question for those that are familiar with old Craftsman tools. These pliers were in the tool set my Dad gave me when I was 14 years old, and just starting to work on cars. They appear to be for removing and installing the old spring type hose clamps. I have been using them for over 40 years now, and they have never really worked very well. They always seem to be notched the wrong way for the spring type clamps. They tend to twist sideways and come off of the clamps. Today, I was trying to install an old clamp, and the darn things spit the clamp out and about broke my finger! I don't know how old the pliers really are. My Dad started wrenching in the late 40's, and spent part of the Korean War era in the Army motor pool. Now most of my stuff has been 60's era Mopar muscle type cars, and Dad used to restore Model T Fords. Maybe the pliers were made for old Fords or Jeeps?? I don't know. Perhaps they were designed for something else? The lettering below the Craftsman logo is: wf*45391*usa
I attached 3 pictures for reference.... Anybody got an idea of what they may have been originally intended for?

My Craftsman slip -joint pliers (without hose clamp grooves) #45373 look almost identical. Bought them in 1977.